How do I find funders for a science nonprofit in Washington, D.C.?

Start with the funders already giving to science in Washington, D.C., currently Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Breakthrough Prize Foundation, The Ford Foundation. Then look at who funds the science organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Washington, D.C. from out of state.

Who is the largest science funder in Washington, D.C.?

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund gives the most to science organizations in Washington, D.C., $112M across the 2022 and 2023 filings.

How much grant money goes to science in Washington, D.C.?

$1.2B reached 200 science organizations in Washington, D.C., from 1,535 funders. 16% came from funders also based in Washington, D.C..

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Funding · Washington, D.C. · Science

Who funds science in Washington, D.C.

Most of it comes from outside Washington, D.C.: only 16% is from funders based in the state, so national funders set the agenda here. Washington, D.C.'s science organizations are comparatively well-backed, averaging 8 funders each.

$1.2B

granted

200

organizations

16%

from in-state

The short version

1,535 funders gave $1.2B to 200 science organizations in Washington, D.C. across the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings.
16% of that came from funders also based in Washington, D.C.; the rest reached in from out of state.
The largest funder of science in Washington, D.C. is Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, at $112M.
The science organization drawing the most is National Academy of Sciences, at $280M.

Largest funders of science in Washington, D.C.

The funders giving the most to science organizations in Washington, D.C., in-state and out. Pick one for its dossier.

1Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund$112M 2Breakthrough Prize Foundation$69M 3The Ford Foundation$66M 4Lilly Endowment Inc$57M 5Silicon Valley Community Foundation$56M 6Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation$50M 7Johns Hopkins University$43M 8National Academy of Engineering Fund$36M 9Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc$29M 10National Philanthropic Trust$25M

Science organizations in Washington, D.C. that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

National Academy of Sciences$280M

190 other science organizations$238M

Smithsonian Institution$177M National Geographic Society$118M Society for Science & the Public$80M American Association for the Advancement of Science$75M Milky Way Research Foundation$64M Federation of American Scientists$56M Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation$55M

How to find science funders in Washington, D.C.

1
Start with the funders already active in Washington, D.C.
The funders giving the most to science in Washington, D.C. are Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Breakthrough Prize Foundation, The Ford Foundation. A funder already writing science checks in your state is the warmest place to begin.
2
See who funds organizations like yours
Open the science organizations on this page that resemble yours in size or work, and look at who funds them. Shared funders are the strongest signal of fit.
3
Add the out-of-state funders reaching in
84% of science money in Washington, D.C. comes from funders elsewhere, so national science funders are worth approaching even if they are not based in Washington, D.C..

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a science nonprofit in Washington, D.C.?: Start with the funders already giving to science in Washington, D.C., currently Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Breakthrough Prize Foundation, The Ford Foundation. Then look at who funds the science organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Washington, D.C. from out of state.
Who is the largest science funder in Washington, D.C.?: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund gives the most to science organizations in Washington, D.C., $112M across the 2022 and 2023 filings.
How much grant money goes to science in Washington, D.C.?: $1.2B reached 200 science organizations in Washington, D.C., from 1,535 funders. 16% came from funders also based in Washington, D.C..
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions

grants reported with no recipient in the public record

The regranting layer

51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Giving abroad

which US foundations fund each country

Each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear; location is the recipient's state on its most recent filing. Grant figures are read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, among recipients resolved by EIN. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.